Sports

Inter Milan Win Serie A Title In Derby Thriller With AC Milan

Published

8 months ago

April 23, 2024

Inter Milan won Serie A on Monday after beating AC Milan 2-1 and creating an unassailable lead at the top of the league with their sixth straight derby victory.

Goals from Francesco Acerbi and Marcus Thuram gave Inter a 17-point advantage over closest challengers Milan and secured their 20th league crown with five matches of the season remaining.

Simone Inzaghi won the first league title of his managerial career on a cold, soaking wet evening at the San Siro where a clutch of Inter’s “away” fans in the 75,000 crowd roared in delight at the final whistle.

Milan made a fight of it in the final moments after Fikayo Tomori pulled one back with 10 minutes remaining but Inter held out to kick off a title party.

Inter have become the second team to win 20 Italian league titles and will have a second star stitched onto their jersey, after Juventus who are way out in the lead with 36 league crowns.

Inzaghi’s team did it style, laying waste to the rest of the division and becoming the first team to claim the title by winning the Milan derby.

With outgoing champions Napoli crashing and burning early in the campaign and Milan falling away in the autumn Inter raced off into the distance at the turn of the year.

Juventus looked like putting up a fight but they collapsed in February just as Inter strung together a run of 13 wins which also gave them hope of repeating a deep run in the Champions League.

Inter failed in that mission as they were knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid in mid-March, but by that time the domestic damage had already been done.

The future looks bright too as Inzaghi, captain Lautaro Martinez and Italy midfielder Nicolo Barella are all set to renew their contracts while smart work in the transfer market and increased revenue has helped mitigate significant financial harm wrought by the Covid-29 pandemic.

Piotr Zielinski and Medhi Taremi will arrive from Napoli and Porto as free agents in the close season while big stars like Marcus Thuram should stay.

Off the pitch Inter’s president Steven Zhang is trying to make sure that investment fund Oaktree don’t take control of the club with non-repayment of an emergency loan — granted in 2021 — next month.

Zhang is looking at taking out another loan with fellow US fund Pimco so that Inter can pay Oaktree loan and ensure that the club don’t wind up owned by Oaktree as Milan did with Elliott in 2018.

AFP

Sports

I Failed In Front of the World Four Years Ago — Lookman’s Touching Speech After Winning CAF Award

Published

2 days ago

December 19, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Super Eagles star, Ademola Lookman had delivered a touching speech after winning the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year award.

According to him, he learned from his failure four years ago which made him a better player.

He said: “Just over four years ago I failed in front of the world. Fast forward four years, I’m the best player in Africa,” Lookman said after receiving the award.

“I want to say to the young children and people watching this: don’t let your failures weigh you down that they break your wings. Matter of fact, turn your pain into your power and continue to fight.

“Firstly. I want to thank the Almighty God for everything he has been doing in my life, and everything he has been blessing me with.

“I want to thank the president, I want to thank all my teammates- club and country. I want to thank them for all their support and love that they gave me.”

“This award today is a blessing to me, to my family, to my nation, and to be recognized as the best player in Africa. It’s something incredible and I’m extremely proud of.”

Sports

CAF Awards 2024: Full List of Winners

Published

3 days ago

December 18, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman, South Africa’s Ronwen Williams, and Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie emerged as some of the standout winners at the 2024 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards.

Lookman, who plays for Atalanta, clinched the prestigious CAF Men’s Player of the Year title, beating contenders such as Simon Adingra, Achraf Hakimi, Ronwen Williams, and Serhou Guirassy.

South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams dominated the night, bagging both the Men’s Interclub Player of the Year and the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year awards.

Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie, known for her stellar performances, was named Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year.

Full List of CAF Awards 2024 Winners
CAF Men’s Player of the Year: Ademola Lookman (Nigeria)
Women’s Interclub Player of the Year: Sanaa Mssoudy
Men’s Interclub Player of the Year: Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
Women’s Club of the Year: TP Mazembe
Men’s Club of the Year: Al Ahly FC
Men’s National Team of the Year: Ivory Coast
Women’s National Team of the Year: Nigeria
Men’s Young Player of the Year: Lamine Camara
Women’s Young Player of the Year: Doha El Madani
Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Chiamaka Nnadozie (Nigeria)
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
Women’s Coach of the Year: Lamia Boumehdi
Men’s Coach of the Year: Emerse Faé
Goal of the Year: Mabululu (Angola)

Sports

Ronaldo To Contest Brazilian Football Federation Presidency

Published

3 days ago

December 18, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Brazil legend Ronaldo has confirmed he wants to become president of the country’s football governing body to address a “deep crisis” the sport is facing nationally.

“I have hundreds of motivations, but I think the biggest of them is really to restore international respect to Brazilian football,” he said in an interview on Monday with the Globoesporte website.

Ronaldo said he wanted to be an “alternative for significant change” as candidate for the job of running the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).

“O Fenomeno” (“The Phenomenon”), as the 48-year-old became known over the course of his 1993-2011 career, said he wants to use the CBF presidency to help Brazil’s national team to regain its glory as five-time world champions.

“The Selecao has to recover its prestige. I’ll do everything so that the players understand the historic importance of playing for the national team,” he said.

Ronaldo scored both goals when Brazil beat Germany in the 2002 World Cup final in Japan, and was twice winner of the Ballon d’Or.

To lodge his CBF candidacy, he needs the support of Brazilian regional clubs and federations.

To get those, he promised to travel “all around Brazil” and share the “incredible plans” he has for the sport.

The date of the next CBF election has not yet been set, but should happen between March 2025 and March 2026, according to Brazilian media.

‘Much deeper problem’

Current CBF chief Ednaldo Rodrigues has been criticized for slotting in temporary coaches for the national team after Tite’s 2022 exit while waiting for Carlo Ancelotti to arrive — something that did not happen when the Italian decided late last year to extend his contract as manager of Real Madrid.

Currently coached by Dorival Junior, the Selecao are fifth in South America qualifying for the 2026 World Cup tournament, seven points behind leaders Argentina.

“My problem is not Ednaldo. The problem is much deeper. My goal is to bring the people closer to the Selecao. Today, the people are indifferent when the Selecao plays,” Ronaldo told Globoesporte.

“I am an alternative of significant change for Brazilian football, which is going through a deep crisis,” he said.

Ronaldo, a former star for Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, already has leadership experience.

In 2018, he took majority control of Spain’s Real Valladolid, and in 2021 did the same for Cruzeiro, the Brazilian club where he started his career.

He sold his Cruzeiro stake in April this year.

In his interview, Ronaldo said he was in talks to “very soon” sell his Valladolid stake to avoid “any obstacle” to his CBF candidacy.

AFP